Tires...what are you running?

    @Ghost you definitely have the power, but the 18 SLR LE has the Bilstein shocks and a 345 will not fit with the 45 offset. You would have to shift to the left a bit to get it to fit.


    I went with a 315 and love it. Iknow this becuase my 345 from my old sling would not fit on my new one. :)

    Proud Member of SOG!!!!!!!

    2015 SL (Yellow) Traded becuase it kept melting

    2018 SLR LE with DDM SuperCharger!!! I guess the gray ones are faster...

    Quote from SlingRider

    @Ghost you definitely have the power, but the 18 SLR LE has the Bilstein shocks and a 345 will not fit with the 45 offset. You would have to shift to the left a bit to get it to fit.


    I went with a 315 and love it. Iknow this becuase my 345 from my old sling would not fit on my new one. :)

    Did you put the 315 on the SLR rims? Pics! Which tire? Any changes in speedo/handling/traction versus the 305?

    Has anyone tried the Riken Raptor ZR tire? I am thinking about putting them on the front and the rear. The summer tire, they also have in the A/S. The fronts 225-45-18 is $82.93 The rear 255-35-20 is $95.12 at Tire Rack. Tread width is max and the tread looks good for dry and wet traction. Reviews look good except noise when they wear down. BYE/BYE BFG Comp 2 Summer

    Quote from FunCycle

    Has anyone tried the Riken Raptor ZR tire? I am thinking about putting them on the front and the rear. The summer tire, they also have in the A/S. The fronts 225-45-18 is $82.93 The rear is $95.12 at Tire Rack. Tread width is max and the tread looks good for dry and wet traction. Reviews look good except noise when they wear down. BYE/BYE BFG Comp 2 Summer

    Those look interesting.
    What size did you put on the rear? TireRack told me Riken didn't offer tires in the stock sizes for the Slingshot Base model and didn't make it easy to see what sizes were offered.
    As far as Riken tires, they have been around since at least 2005 and are a Michelin brand according to this article - Michelin introduces Riken Raptor ZR ultra-high performance tire - Retail - Modern Tire Dealer
    Here's a YouTube review of Riken tires on a Civic Si -


    The only thing that bugs me is I can't find a Riken factory website. I went to Discount Tire and didn't see Riken listed, but a Google search took me to a DT listing for Rikens, but in only a few sizes that wouldn't be my choices for the Slingshot.
    Naturally, after posting the above, I found a Riken tire site - Riken | Just efficent
    This blog says Riken has been available in the US since 1979 and that Michelin bought them as an affordable HP tire brand in 1991.

    Quote from BKL

    Those look interesting.What size did you put on the rear? TireRack told me Riken didn't offer tires in the stock sizes for the Slingshot Base model and didn't make it easy to see what sizes were offered.
    As far as Riken tires, they have been around since at least 2005 and are a Michelin brand according to this article - Michelin introduces Riken Raptor ZR ultra-high performance tire - Retail - Modern Tire Dealer
    Here's a YouTube review of Riken tires on a Civic Si -


    The only thing that bugs me is I can't find a Riken factory website. I went to Discount Tire and didn't see Riken listed, but a Google search took me to a DT listing for Rikens, but in only a few sizes that wouldn't be my choices for the Slingshot.

    Sorry I missed putting the rear size in the post. Simple Tire had some sizes and Discount Tire had none at all

    Today I'm running on a busted rear wheel and tire.
    Going thru a highway construction area, minding my own business, when low and behold, spinning out into my lane is a damn rock about the size of a large softball.
    I swerved hard left missed it with the front, but caught it on the rear.
    Bent the rim and tire went flat.
    After a long workout my son and I got it sealed enough to get me home.
    The hwy. Safety superintendent showed up took a report and pictures of the rim and the rock, and told me to get it fixed and they would pay for it. He said it cant be more than two or three hundred. Ha.ha.ha.!
    Got the rim to the dealership where I bought my sling. Bill......$998.78 for both tire and rim. I about fainted.
    I have the 20" rim on the rear of mine.
    Cant wait until tomorrow morning when I hand this guy the bill. He's gonna s*it himself.
    Well they pay for the damage, or they pay for court costs and damage.

    At least they initially acknowledged responsibility... Not always the case depending on where something like that happens.

    Quote from Nemesis1701

    @FunCycle as we discussed at MV I dig the Achilles. Since i have 16/18 setup for track and the 18\20 for summer Im getting the 275/40/20 rear tire . IMO the price of the Achilles and how ive seen it perform so far...I'm sold 2c

    I currently have a Nitto 555 G2 315/35R17 on a Mustang wheel on the rear of my Slingshot and it seems to be lasting OK so far. I bought an Achilles Sport 275/35R18 as a backup spare. After reading about and pricing the Achilles Sport 2 305/30R18, I bought a set of Base wheels with the intent of having the rear wheel widened about 1-1.5", but now, the 305 seems to be in short supply, so I haven't widened the rear wheel. I'm sure more tires will be coming at some point, so I'll probably proceed with my plan at some point.

    Quote from BKL

    I currently have a Nitto 555 G2 315/35R17 on a Mustang wheel on the rear of my Slingshot and it seems to be lasting OK so far. I bought an Achilles Sport 275/35R18 as a backup spare. After reading about and pricing the Achilles Sport 2 305/30R18, I bought a set of Base wheels with the intent of having the rear wheel widened about 1-1.5", but now, the 305 seems to be in short supply, so I haven't widened the rear wheel. I'm sure more tires will be coming at some point, so I'll probably proceed with my plan at some point.

    How many miles you got on that Nitto now?

    Quote from War Hoop

    How many miles you got on that Nitto now?

    Counting the miles I put on it when I first tested the tire/wheel combo before I installed the turbo, I'd estimate I have just under 6000 miles on it -

    At this rate, I may make it to around 10K miles or another 3-4 months or so before I need to replace it. I already have an Achilles Sport 275/35R18 tire on my original rear wheel and I just bought a second set of wheels so I can widen the second rear wheel from 9.5" to 10.5-11" wide to accommodate an Achilles Sport 2 305/30R18 as an economical rear tire replacement. Unfortunately, most places are out of stock for that tire and I haven't sent the wheel off for widening, but I just located a company that has the tire for $101 + $25 shipping. The Achilles Sport 2 is rated at 400 for tread-life so it should last as long as the Kendas or a little more. My other option will be a Nitto Motivo AS UHP tire in the same size as my 555 G2 (315/35R17) at a little over $200 delivered w/o mounting fees.

    Quote from BKL

    I currently have a Nitto 555 G2 315/35R17 on a Mustang wheel on the rear of my Slingshot and it seems to be lasting OK so far. I bought an Achilles Sport 275/35R18 as a backup spare. After reading about and pricing the Achilles Sport 2 305/30R18, I bought a set of Base wheels with the intent of having the rear wheel widened about 1-1.5", but now, the 305 seems to be in short supply, so I haven't widened the rear wheel. I'm sure more tires will be coming at some point, so I'll probably proceed with my plan at some point.

    Have fun with widening a wheel. I thought this would be the ticket too, until I really understood what needed to happen for it to work correctly. I just ended up buying a Forgestar 18X12 rear rim that somewhat matches the fronts and it was less hassle and money. Here is why widening a wheel is not a good solution for a rear wheel of a reverse trike...

    1. Stock wheels are not that great of quality to be widening
    2. When they widen the wheel, they can only widen the inside portion/barrel, which means that your offset gets all out of wack
    3. If you widen a wheel by one inch, now you have added 25mm of offset to the wheel, giving you a 70mm offset rim
    4. This means you now have to use spacers to push it back left (drivers side) close to the 45mm stock offset
    5. Spacing it back that far requires longer wheels studs or wheel adapters
    6. $400 later, you could have just bought a quality wheel in 18x12 or 20x12 in a 45 offset

    If anyone really wants to run a 305 setup on the stock base model setup, it is possible. There are tires like the Nitto NT05R drag radial that come in 305/45/18 and are recommended on a 9.5 inch rear wheel. When you do this rear setup, you need to make sure your fronts are taller too so that the rolling diameter difference stays similar to stock. You would want to run 235/50/17 fronts. This is a good setup for someone looking for good performance and higher sidewalls for comfort. Nitto Neo Gen for the fronts and a Nitto NT555R for the rear. Just don't expect good cold or wet traction from the rear drag radial. I am sure dry traction would be really good though!

    Owner of Slingshot #263 that has some stock parts left on it. :D

    I was still figuring out how the widening would affect the wheel. I had been thinking they cut the wheel in the middle, but the offset will be affected no matter which side they attach the new material to. The set of Base wheels I bought are in a color my Wife likes and had a decent amount of tread left on them.
    I'll check out ForgeStar. Looks like the F14 is the closest match to the Base wheels. Is that what you picked?
    While I've got your attention, are there any significant advantages to the Semi-, Deep- or Super Deep-Concave wheels? The Semi-Concave would be limited to 18x10.5 for the correct offset, but the Deep and SuperDeep-Concave come in a variety of offset and width choices.
    Finally, based on your experience, do you feel a particular finish is closest to the color of the Base wheels?

    Edited 2 times, last by BKL ().

    Just to make one correction to what TravAZ said about widening the wheel, when I did just what he listed using the same size spacer on TSW wheels it was not necessary to use longer studs. I am glad that he has such vast knowledge of our slings and is always willing to share it. Besides, we couldn't stand him if he was perfect.